Call for Papers

Special Journal Issue on:

Qualitative Research for Policy Making

with Innovation, The European Journal of Social Science Research, Routledge

Following the successful Merlien Institute conferences on Qualitative Research for Policy Making held in Belfast (2011) and Malta (2010), we are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for a special issue on Qualitative Research for Policy Making to be published in Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research by Routledge. Call for Papers: Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit full papers (of max 6000 words) on the role of qualitative methodologies and research in a policy setting that tackles hard questions on epistemological assumptions, limitations and advantages, and quality assurance. Authors are also encouraged to submit papers on applied successful examples of qualitative research or mixed methodologies with a substantial role of qualitative research. Thematic areas may include health, education, welfare, science and technology studies, and public opinion analysis. Topics of interest may include, but not limited to: >Anticipating 'hot issues' and producing timely reports for policy makers to report to new developments >Maximising the opportunities for qualitative research to enter into policy environments > Methodological integration of qualitative data with quantitative data >Discussing issues around (the perceived lack of) scientific rigour in qualitative research >How to evaluate the impact of qualitative research within the context of policy making? >Converting research conclusions into actionable policy recommendations >Implementing systematic reviews and syntheses of qualitative research to inform policy making > Exploring interdisciplinary approaches to qualitative research and mixed methods > The role of qualitative research in cross cultural policy oriented research > The political context of research evidence in the evaluation and formation of policy > Research ethics and issues in a policy-making environment > The role of the media in setting policy agendas and in the uptake of research findings Before submission, authors should carefully read over the journal's author guidelines, which are located at http://bit.ly/ifKJ6D. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript to: qrpm@merlien.org according to the following timetable: Important dates: Manuscript due: October 15th 2011 First round of reviews: January 15th 2012 Expected Publication date: Fall 2012, Issue 3, 2012 Guest Editors: Giuseppe Veltri, European Commission Robert Miller, Queens University Belfast, UK Gillian Robinson, University of Ulster, UK Jasper Lim, Merlien Institute, Singapore If you have any questions, please email to Jasper Lim, Merlien Institute qrpm@merlien.org